A more intimate gathering allows for innovation

Everyone knows what Thanksgiving is supposed to look like: the groaning board, the gargantuan bird, pies for 20. But what if, by chance or circumstance, you're not going to be surrounded by family and friends this Thursday? What if you want a traditional Thanksgiving spread - but for two instead of two dozen?

It's not as crazy as it sounds. Sure, you won't be ordering the 16-pounder from the farm, and even a whole pie feels like a bit much. But it's still possible to create a festive meal, with many of the traditional tastes and smells of Thanksgiving, just for the two of you. And, without the usual challenge of trying to make a huge group of people happy, you can devise a feast that truly pleases your taste. No creamed onions! All the potatoes you can eat! Just the freedom of picking and choosing among all the elements of the traditional meal is truly something to be thankful for.

First things first: The Bird. Basically, you have two options, and the one you choose will depend on what you value more: an iconic stuffed fowl, or turkey no matter what. If it's the turkey taste you crave, buy a breast and roast it with the stuffing alongside. If you need to see a whole bird, though, Cornish game hens make an attractive downsized platter. And everybody gets a drumstick!

Next, there's the question of what to serve alongside. Mashed potatoes are required by law, but four potatoes should be plenty (especially because, frankly, you won't be getting a lot of gravy from either the hens or the turkey breast). Wild iconoclasts might consider twice-baked potatoes, the baked flesh scooped from the skin, mashed with butter and Parmesan, then returned to the skin and baked again until brown.

You can also do sweet potatoes if you want, but that feels dangerously close to overkill even for a crowd. Ditto for mashed squash, but if that flavor is essential to your Thanksgiving memories, you could start the meal with a suave pureed soup. Then, to add some crunch to this otherwise soft-textured feast, follow the main course with a crisp salad of fennel and orange. Here's where you can get your annual fix of cranberry, cleverly masquerading as a tangy vinaigrette. Isn't it nice not to have to buy that slippery can of gel for the aunties?

And then, of course, there's dessert. Go ahead and bake a pie if you long to, but if not, make a nod to tradition even as you lighten things up. A silken creme brulee, fortified with the evocative addition of pureed pumpkin, could be just the thing.

Or maybe not. Maybe you've always hated pumpkin pie. In that case, toss out all the rules - have chocolate mousse, or Mallomars, or whatever is your heart's desire. But at that point you might as well toss out the turkey, too, and go for lobster, because now we're not in Kansas anymore.

If you do settle on lobster and Mallomars, you're on your own. But if you want a simple, sophisticated dinner for two that has all the flavor of Thanksgiving with none of the family dysfunction, here's the plan.